Monday, 26 November 2018 07:00:00 Europe/London

Simply the Best: Choosing the Best Water Bottle Refill Station for Your Business

Water bottle refill stations are fast becoming the must-have item for all eco-conscious businesses. They’re a great way to provide an additional service to your customers – and staff – while quietly showcasing the fact that your business is environmentally-aware. But, with so many makes and models now available, how do you know which is the best one for you?

Monday, 12 November 2018 07:00:00 Europe/London

Top of the Class – The Most Popular Bottle Filler for Schools

We work with a lot of schools at MIW Water Cooler Expert. Over the years, we’ve installed thousands of drinking water solutions. And if there’s one thing that we’ve learnt, it’s that schools, colleges and universities have very specific needs. And while there’s still room for the traditional stop and slurp drinking fountains, they don’t cater for every demographic. Teenage girls, for example, aren’t overly keen on having to wipe their chins are every drink! And yet, while bottle fillers are growing in popularity, not everyone carries a bottle on them, or wants to add to the weight of the textbooks and tech dragging at their shoulders with a sloshing drinks bottle in their bag.

Friday, 7 September 2018 06:21:00 Europe/London

Is the UK Lagging Behind on Plastic Waste Reduction?

A few weeks ago, India made a massively surprising and massively encouraging pledge: to ban all single-use plastics by 2022. This is an enormous undertaking for a four-year period, especially for a country that is broadly recognised as one of the poorest nations in the world. And that’s really the surprise of the announcement, because common sense dictates that it should be the richer economies leading the way.

Plastic is now considered to be one of the greatest environmental threats that the world faces. It’s estimated that if nothing is done to reverse the current state of affairs, by 2050, 99% of all seabirds will have ingested plastic and there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. And we’ve reached this stage because, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Every bit of plastic ever made still exists.”

Think about it: Every bit of plastic ever made still exists. All the straws, teaspoons, drinks bottles and bits of clingfilm. And that’s before we’ve got the sturdier stuff; the toys, laptop cases, car interiors and window frames.

No wonder the seas are choking on the stuff.

So, the news that India is taking a stance and banning all single-use plastics from production is a really positive and significant move. But what about the rest of the world? What about the UK?

It made the news a few months ago when the UK’s Prime Minister, Theresa May, made a similar pledge, but her pledge was rife with caveats – most notably, that the UK would ban single-use plastics 'where it is “economically practical” to do so'. And fair enough; no one wants to see the UK find itself back in another recession, but if India can work towards the total removal of single-use plastics from production, why can’t everyone else? Why can’t we?

We’re already making headway with plastic carrier bags. And plastic straws, stirrers and cottons buds are likely to be removed from sale from next year (likely – again another caveat-filled pledge). But, we all need to do more if we’re going to make a difference. And changing our drinking culture is an easy place to start.

Removing single-use plastic drinks bottles is as simple as providing adequate alternatives. If people have access to drinking water when they need it, then the practise of purchasing and binning plastic bottles will soon be forgotten. And with more and more businesses and organisations installing sports bottle filling stations on their premises voluntarily, it wouldn’t cost the Government much to build a public drinking water infrastructure, filling in the gaps that business has left. That alone would remove 150 plastic bottles per adult per year, which would be a tremendous start.

I’m thrilled that India has vowed to make such a positive change. With a population exceeding 1.3 billion, this move could make such a hugely positive difference. But, I can’t help but feel that it leaves the UK – and other influential countries – with a lot of catching up to do.

Monday, 6 August 2018 11:23:00 Europe/London

Can We Beat the EU at Its Own Game?

Bottle filling stations could lead the way in the EU’s plastic reduction challenge.

Whether you were for or against in the original vote, there’s little denying that so far, the Brexit negotiations have been far from edifying. The tit-for-tat tactics have often seemed like a petulant children’s game, with little gain to show for it on either side. We have now, finally seen something positive emerge though – a challenge to cut back on plastic.

Monday, 30 July 2018 09:49:00 Europe/London

Success Across the UK’s Rail Networks

We’ve been working with The London Mayor’s office and the #OneLess bottle campaign to help reduce the amount of plastic waste in London (as well as further afield), through the provision of free-to-use drinking fountains. And it’s this that has led to the above headline.

Monday, 15 May 2017 15:46:41 Europe/London

Lifestyle Landfill – How Water Bottles Are Flooding London’s Landscape

We hate to go all political on you – at a time of general election no one wants that! – but the London Assembly have recently released a scarily fascinating report (yeah, we were a bit shocked too!) and we thought that it was worth sharing some of the data.